Our client at Certified American Grown Flowers, came to us asking if we could help promote and sell tickets to a nationwide 10-city dinner tour that would bring attention to the idea the flowers on your table should be as fresh, local and sustainable as the food on your plate.

Our objectives were to sell out each dinner and obtain as much press and blog coverage as possible. We were promoting dinner in local flower fields or greenhouses, hosted by flower farmers with jaw-dropping floral designs from local florists. And to top it off the dinners included a feast prepared by a local chef using all fresh, local ingredients. The swoon-worthy affairs took place during a 10-month period starting in California and traveling through the country to Brooklyn, Washington D.C, Seattle, Portland, and Detroit (to name a few). The event planner and lead vision keeper Kathleen Williford, managed all ten events (plus a few in between), with efficiency and grace.

The first dinner was in an Orchid Greenhouse in Carpinteria, California in March of 2015. To promote the dinner, we publicized in the local media, on local event calendars, developed a landing page for the dinner series and used digital ads to target locals. We used social media to reach locals, and enlisted the help of our local farms, florists and chefs to help spread the word. We had the pleasure of working alongside fellow American Flower champion, Slow Flowersfounder, speaker and author Debra Prinzing who not only helped spread the word about this wonderful series, but attended each dinner (an added bonus to guests).

Two days before the dinner, we were elated to announce a sell out.

And then we got to attend our first dinner. We thought it would be beautiful, yes. We thought the food would be delicious and the floral designs would be pretty. What we experienced went much further than that, it was magical. From the moment we walked into the warm orchid greenhouse and were engulfed in the sweet scent of orchids, we knew this dinner series was something very special.

The dinner series created a conversation piece for journalists, bloggers, and floral enthusiasts to talk about the American Grown flower and its importance in the history and economic landscape of our country. And what a conversation it started. As the dinner series rolled out, so did the press coverage, in the Wall Street Journal, Sunset Magazine and Food and Wine Magazine. The advertising value of the press we received reached close to $1 million dollars and the mostly sold out (two of the dinners had a few spots left) dinners created a revenue stream that paid for itself.

We are very proud of the role we played in the success of the Field to Vase Dinner tour and are so honored that the Certified American Grown flower farmers are allowing us to join them for another tour next year, and entrusting us to help spread their very worthwhile message.